


the secrets we keep

by tangentiallly



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Arguing, Gen, Jacques helped Lemony go on the lam, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26052877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tangentiallly/pseuds/tangentiallly
Summary: Kit finds out Jacques knew Lemony is alive.
Relationships: Jacques Snicket & Kit Snicket
Kudos: 6





	the secrets we keep

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: I don't own ASOUE

“You _knew_ L is alive,” Kit said seethingly. “You knew it from the very beginning and you helped him escape the authorities and you just decided it’s a good idea to not tell me about it? To let me think he went on a lam all by himself in a hurry and worry over the various death reports in Daily Punctilio and wondering if they were true, while you’ve had contact with him a couple of times?” Her grip on the wheel tightened as her foot slammed into the accelerator, and the taxi sped forwards. 

“Slow down,” Jacques replied, his voice calm and collected despite Kit’s accusations, despite the taxi’s high speed. “Before you run into something.”

Kit rolled her eyes dismissively. “I have it under control.” She sneered. “How did you think I would react after I found out? He’s my brother too.”

“Don’t act like you don’t already drive like this anyway,” Jacques retorted. “Anyway, we had to keep the plan a secret. The less people involved, the safer it is. Don’t you agree that _our brother’s safety_ is top priority?”

“Don’t patronize me,” Kit snapped, switching the taxi sharply to the left lane to dodge a slower car in front of them. “It’s not like I’m going to spread the news around once I know. What, you don’t trust me?”

Jacques was silent for a moment too long, and Kit drew a sharp breath. “Oh my god, you _don’t_ trust me.” Jacques noticed her fingers seemed to tighten even more around the wheel, and her arms seemed to be shaking slightly, although he wasn’t sure if he’s seeing this correctly. Maybe it only seemed to be shaking because of the car’s high speed.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said sharply. “This is just about keeping the people in the know to a minimum.”

“Yeah, right,” she sneered. “If you trusted me, that shouldn’t have mattered at all.”

She’s being unreasonable, Jacques thought. Trusting someone didn’t always mean divulging all the plans, all good volunteers should know that. Fragmentary plots were often necessary in their line of work, sometimes for the sake of plausible deniability, sometimes because you couldn’t accidentally let slip something you didn’t know, sometimes simply because things got complicated when more people were involved. Hell, He didn’t even tell _Beatrice_. Plus, it wasn’t like he’d outright told her Lemony died - he simply did not tell her he stayed in contact with L. And she herself knew full well that most of the Daily Punctilio had to be false, if only for the fact that someone could not have died several times.

He should explain this to her. But he also felt like he shouldn’t _need to_ explain this to her, because all those were basic knowledge a volunteer should have. But then, there’s another part of him, deep down, that suggested that maybe he didn’t want to explain this to her because all these were just excuses, and deep down he felt guilty and regretted the decision to keep her in the dark. Truthfully, he’d wondered if that decision was a right one, but decided to stick to it after the decision was made, thinking it would keep things simpler and everyone safer. He ignored the questions that surfaced late at night when he was alone - wondering if he’d secretly been jealous that Kit and Lemony had always been closer and now was _his_ chance to be the one to know Lemony’s whereabouts. Wondering if this really was the best way to protect Lemony.

He didn’t tell her any of those. Somehow, what he said instead was, “It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s the people you hang around. You don’t have the best track record in that department.”

“Don’t you dare bring up Olaf -”

“You can’t pretend you and Olaf never happened,” he interrupted her. “And he’s not the only questionable dating choice you’ve made. Ellington Feint was hardly a trustworthy person either.”

She scoffed loudly. “Jerome -”

“- and I are not dating, and never will be.” Jacques said flatly. “Plus, I don’t tell him anything important.”

“You’d better not be, since you don’t tell your sister anything important either,” she said, bitingly. “Anyway, those are all in the past. I’m not with Olaf or Ellington anymore.”

“And who are you seeing right now?” He asked.

“No one,” she said shortly. He didn’t believe her. He had heard rumors otherwise, of Kit’s weird disappearances sometimes and some other clues that she might be dating someone. He didn’t know exactly who it was, but he doubted it was something he’d approved, or she wouldn’t need to keep it a secret. He knew she was visiting Hotel Denouement more often, and he wondered who she’d been taking with her when she’d booked a room there.

“Yeah, right,” he scoffed, not bothering to hide the fact that he didn’t believe her. “You’re keeping secrets too, don’t act so high and mighty.”

“I’m not _\- fine_ ,” she snapped. “But keeping a secret about who I date is not the same as keeping a secret about something concerning L.”

“No, it’s not,” he agreed coolly. “But the fact you’re dating someone you don’t want me to know is enough reason for me to have reservations of telling you things.”

“ _Reservations of telling me things_ ,” she mimicked, meanly. “So it’s not just about you getting a chance to be the one to know L’s secret this time, huh?”

He froze.

She laughed sharply, an unpleasant laugh, and stepped on the brake forcefully. The taxi came to a sudden stop in front of a coffee shop. “I need to get a drink. You can have the taxi. No need to wait for me.”

She stepped out before Jacques could say another word.

**Author's Note:**

> [come say hi on tumblr](https://beatricebidelaire.tumblr.com)


End file.
